I have a little buckeye grove in back of our property by the edge of the woods.  

There are probably about ten little trees in all. In the Spring,  

they wear bright green leaves and red flowers. When the flowers begin to fade, 

 

the buckeyes begin to form.  I watch them all summer.  About the beginning of October,  

   

the pods begin to crack open,  

I pick them, take out the nuts and

and put them on the windowsill to dry. 
 Then I make garlands and other decorations with them. 

This fall I had picked all the buckeyes on all of the trees except one…that’s because those were late opening.  I could have gone ahead and gathered them 
 and put them on the counter
 

till they opened.  As a matter of fact, last Wednesday I started to do just that…but I didn’t.
Thursday I went to check them,  but when I got there, the buckeyes were gone.  Well, there was one left…at the very top…but that was it.  Thirty plus buckeye pods had vanished…without a trace.

Occasionally a squirrel will pick  one for a snack, and deer will eat the leaves, but there was no evidence to support that kind of activity.  I also ruled out   

  grandchildren, even though they do occasionally 

 

assume other identities.

So, after careful consideration, I have come up with three possible answers to this mystery.

1. Bigfoot
2. Alien abduction
3. A buckeye bandit

Number three seems to be the most logical choice…although there’s nothing logical about this situation.

However, if you have any information concerning the whereabouts of these buckeyes, please contact the Crimestoppers Division of The Chicken Chronicles.